Electronic equipment

ABSTRACT

Electronic equipment capable of removing a stain etc. formed on an electrode surface of a battery is disclosed. The electronic equipment comprises a battery chamber which houses a battery, and a battery contact member which is provided in the battery chamber and includes a contact portion contacting the battery housed in the battery chamber. Here, the contact portion is formed by bending a part of the battery contact member so as to protrude from the battery contact member and to have curvature. In a case where the battery is housed in the battery chamber, the contact portion moves while contacting the battery depending on movement of the battery in a direction in which the battery is housed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to electronic equipment capable of storinga battery, such as a digital camera.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, an oxide coating, oil stain etc. formed on an electrodeterminal of a battery often causes poor conduction. Therefore, it isnecessary to scrape off such foreign matters formed on the electrodesurface of the battery by using, for example, a file.

However, such a scraping process is a burden and usually a tedious chorefor a user. Therefore, it is desirable to have a battery storagestructure that can provide the same effect as scraping off the electrodesurface of the battery with a file, during a series of operations inwhich the battery is loaded into the electronic equipment and then abattery cover is closed.

Conventionally, on a contact member provided in a battery compartment ofthe electronic equipment, a contact portion for contacting the electrodesurface of a battery is formed in a sharp shape, such as a pin, and thecontact portion and the electrode surface of the battery come intocontact with each other by the pressing force caused when the battery isloaded in the battery compartment. Such a structure is often applied to,for example, the electronic equipment requiring for a high voltage.

In recent years, with the use of high-specification electronicequipment, power consumption tends to increase. In the electronicequipment driven by batteries, it is required that the operating time ofthe electronic equipment should not be shortened even at higher powerconsumption. Particularly, although digital cameras temporarily requirea high voltage, most of the digital cameras use AA-size batteries as apower source. However, when such AA-size batteries are used, it becomesmore important to repress the voltage drop of electronic equipmentcaused by poor electric conduction, and to decrease contact resistance.

However, since a conventional contact portion has a shape (a pointedshape) that deeply comes into contact with the electrode surface of abattery, that is, the contact portion sticks to the electrode surface ofthe battery when the battery is loaded into the battery compartment, thecontact portion does not slide on the electrode surface of the batteryby the force alone generated when the battery is inserted into thebattery compartment. Thus, it is difficult to effectively remove anoxide coating, oil stain, etc. formed on the electrode surface of thebattery. Further, when the battery comes into contact with the contactmember, the battery abuts on the wall surface of the battery compartmentwith a slant angle to the direction in which the battery is inserted bya large frictional resistance between the electrode surface of thebattery and the contact portion. As a result, the contact pressurebetween the electrode of the battery and the contact member of theelectronic equipment decreases, which consequently increases the contactresistance therebetween.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is designed to solve theabove-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present inventionto provide electronic equipment capable of removing a stain etc. formedon the electrode surface of a battery.

One aspect of the electronic equipment of the present inventioncomprises a battery chamber which houses a battery, and a batterycontact member which is provided in the battery chamber and includes acontact portion contacting the battery housed in the battery chamber.Here, the contact portion is formed by bending a part of the batterycontact member so as to protrude from the battery contact member and tohave curvature. In a case where the battery is housed in the batterychamber, the contact portion moves while contacting the batterydepending on movement of the battery in a direction in which the batteryis housed.

Another aspect of the electronic equipment of the present inventioncomprises a battery chamber which houses a battery and a battery contactmember which is provided in the battery chamber and includes at least afirst and a second contact portions contacting the battery housed in thebattery chamber. Here, in a case where the battery is housed in thebattery chamber, depending on movement of the battery in a direction inwhich the battery is housed, the first contact portion moves along acircumference of a circle whose center is a first point in the clockwisedirection while contacting the battery. And the second contact portionmoves along a circumference of a circle whose center is a second pointin the counterclockwise direction while contacting the battery.

The features of the electronic equipment according to the presentinvention will be clarified with the accompanying drawings and thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view mainly illustrating a batterycompartment of a digital camera according to Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 1B is a side view of a battery contact member;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are views illustrating contact states between a batteryand a battery contact member according to Embodiment 1 when the batteryis inserted in the battery compartment;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view mainly illustrating a batterycompartment of a digital camera according to Embodiment 2 of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the appearance of a batterycontact member according to Embodiment 2;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are views illustrating contact states between a batteryand a battery contact member according to Embodiment 2 when the batteryis inserted in the battery compartment; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the appearance of the cameraaccording to Embodiment 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the appearance of a digitalcamera (electronic equipment) according to Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 101 indicates a camera body inwhich various members needed for image-taking, for example, an imagepickup element such as a CCD sensor or a CMOS image sensor forphotoelectrically converting an optical image into electric signals, anoptical low-pass filter, and a control circuit for controlling theoverall operation of the camera, are arranged.

Reference numeral 102 indicates a lens barrel having an image-takinglens therein, and the focal length of an image-taking optical system canbe changed by extending or retracting the lens barrel 102 in thedirection of the optical axis. Reference numeral 103 indicates a releasebutton. Image-taking preparatory operations including focusing operationand photometry operation, etc. are started by half pushing the releasebutton 103, and an image-taking operation, that is, an operation ofwriting on a storage medium an image data produced by performing apredetermined process on the signals read out from the image pickupelement, is started by fully pushing the release button 103.

Reference numeral 104 indicates a window portion for a finder opticalsystem through which a photographer can view an object for image-taking.Reference numeral 105 indicates a widow portion for a photometric sensorfor measuring the brightness of an object. A result measured by thephotometric sensor is transmitted to the control circuit in the camerabody 101, and then the control circuit calculates exposure values(shutter and aperture value). Reference numeral 106 indicates a windowportion for an illuminating unit for emitting illumination light to theobject.

A battery cover 6 is rotatably mounted on a bottom surface of the camerabody 101. By rotating the battery cover 6, an opening of a batterycompartment provided inside the camera body 101 for storing batteries isopened or closed.

FIG. 1A is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the camera accordingto Embodiment 1, in which the cross section of a battery compartment isalso shown. FIG. 1B shows a battery contact member provided in thebattery compartment. In addition, FIGS. 2A and 2B are views illustratingstates in which the battery contact member comes into contact with thebattery when the battery is loaded in the battery compartment, whereinFIG. 2A is a view illustrating the state as seen from the x direction,and FIG. 2B is a view illustrating the state as seen from the ydirection.

Further, the x direction indicates the height direction (or thehorizontal direction) of the camera, the y direction indicates thethickness direction of the camera, and the z direction is the horizontaldirection (or the height direction) of the camera.

The structure of the battery compartment will be described withreference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The explanation of the structures of membersother than the battery compartment will be omitted because the membershave the same structures as those in a conventional camera.

Reference numeral 1 indicates a battery compartment provided inside thecamera body 101, and the battery compartment can store two AA-sizebatteries 2 a and 2 b. Reference numeral 3 indicates a battery contactmember provided in the battery compartment 1, and the battery contactmember 3 comes into contact with a negative electrode of the battery 2 astored in the battery compartment 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1B, 2A and 2B, the battery contact member 3 ismanufactured by bending an elastic metal plate and has an arm portion 3a. In addition, the arm portion 3 a is provided with a contact portion 3b brought into contact with the negative electrode of the battery 2 a.As shown in FIG. 2B, the contact portion 3 b is formed by bending partsof the arm portion 3 a at its side edge so as to protrude from the uppersurface of the arm portion 3 a, and the tip of the contact portion 3 bis formed in a semicircular shape, that is, in a shape having curvature.

Herein, the width and thickness of the arm portion 3 a are arranged suchthat a sufficient contact pressure can be applied to an electrodeportion of the battery 2 a through the contact portion 3 b. In addition,the battery contact member 3 further includes a convex elastic portion 3c having curvature formed by a bending process.

Further, a front end portion 3 d of the arm portion 3 a is bentsubstantially in the direction in which the battery is inserted. Thebattery contact member 3 is elastically deformed by the insertion of thebattery 2 a, and the arm portion 3 a rotates around its base end side asthe center. Then, the front end portion 3 d abuts on an inner wall ofthe battery compartment 1, so that the rotation of the arm portion 3 ais limited so as not to rotate beyond a predetermined angle range.Therefore, it is possible to repress the plastic deformation of thebattery contact member 3.

Reference numeral 4 indicates a battery contact member provided insidethe battery compartment 1, and the battery contact member 4 comes intocontact with a positive electrode of the battery 2 b stored in thebattery compartment 1. The battery contact member 4 has substantiallythe same shape as that of the battery contact member 3, but is notprovided with a portion corresponding to the front end portion 3 d ofthe battery contact member 3.

Reference numeral 5 indicates a battery contact member provided at thebattery cover 6, and the battery contact member 5 comes into contactwith the negative electrode of the battery 2 b stored in the batterycompartment 1 and the positive electrode of the battery 2 a stored inthe battery compartment. Herein, the two batteries 2 a and 2 b arestored in the battery compartment 1, and the two batteries 2 a and 2 bare connected to each other in series by the battery contact member 5.

Next, a method of mounting the battery contact members 3 and 4 in thebattery compartment will be described.

First, the battery contact members 3 and 4 are mounted in the batterycompartment 1 by inserting the battery contact members 3 and 4 intogroove portions 7 provided in the battery compartment 1 while slidingthem. Herein, hole portions (not shown) are provided in the batterycompartment 1, and an elastic portion 3 c of the battery contact member3 (4) can be inserted into the hole portion. As such, the elasticportion 3 c is fixed in the hole portion by inserting the elasticportion 3 c into the hole portion, thereby accurately mounting thebattery contact member 3 in the battery compartment 1 without backlash.

Further, a lead line arranged in the camera body 101 is soldered to asoldering portion 8 provided for the battery contact member 3 (4).Therefore, the power of the batteries 2 a and 2 b is supplied to variouselectric elements provided in the camera body 101 through the lead line.

In the structure of the battery compartment 1 as described above, whenloading the battery 2 a into the battery compartment 1 and closing thebattery cover 6, the battery contact member 3 is pressed by the battery2 a so as to be elastically deformed. At that time, the arm portion 3 aof the battery contact member 3 rotates around its base end portion (thebent portion of the battery contact member 3) as an axis (rotationaround the x-axis), that is, rotates in the plane including thedirection (the z direction) in which the battery 2 a is inserted. Then,the contact portion 3 b formed in the arm portion 3 a slides to thenegative y direction with respect to the electrode portion of thebattery 2 a in accordance with the rotation of the arm portion 3 a.

Herein, since the tip of the contact portion 3 b of the battery contactmember 3 is formed in a semicircular shape as described above, it ispossible to minimize the contact area between the contact portion 3 band the electrode portion of the battery 2 a, and thus to reduce thefrictional force between the contact portion 3 b and the electrodeportion of the battery 2 a caused when the contact portion 3 b moves inthe y direction with respect to the electrode portion of the battery 2a. In addition, since the battery contact member 3 is elasticallydeformed, the contact portion 3 b slides with respect to the electrodeportion of the battery 2 a with a certain degree of biasing force.Therefore, it is possible to much effectively scrape off an oxidecoating, stain, etc. formed on the electrode portion of the battery 2 a,and thus to repress poor conduction of the battery 2 a.

Furthermore, at the same time, since the tip of the contact portion 3 bis formed in a semicircular shape as described above, it is possible tominimize the contact area between the contact portion 3 b and theelectrode portion of the battery 2 a. Therefore, it is possible torepress the battery 2 a from leaning to the y direction in the batterycompartment 1, and thus to repress reduction in the contact pressurebetween the contact portion 3 b and the electrode portion of the battery2 a.

Embodiment 2

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view illustrating a digitalcamera (electronic equipment) according to Embodiment 2 of the presentinvention, in which the cross section (the same cross section as that inFIG. 1A) including a battery compartment is shown. FIG. 4 is aperspective view illustrating the appearance of a battery contact member9 according to Embodiment 2.

Further, FIGS. 5A and 5B are views illustrating a contact state betweena battery contact member 9 and an electrode portion of a battery whenthe battery is loaded into the battery compartment, wherein FIG. 5A is aview showing the state as seen from the y direction, and FIG. 5B is aview showing the state as seen from the x direction. Herein, the xdirection indicates the height direction (or the horizontal direction)of the camera, the y direction indicates the thickness direction of thecamera, and the z direction indicates the horizontal direction (or theheight direction) of the camera.

The structure of the camera and the peripheral structure of the batterycompartment according to Embodiment 2 are substantially the same asthose in Embodiment 1, and thus the same components as those inEmbodiment 1 have the same reference numerals. Battery contact members 9and 10 of Embodiment 2 differ from those in Embodiment 1 in shape. Inaddition, a mounting method of the battery contact members 9 and 10according to Embodiment 2 is the same as that in Embodiment 1, and thusan explanation thereof will be omitted.

First, the shape of the battery contact member 9, which is provided inthe battery compartment 1 and comes into contact with a negativeelectrode of the battery 2 a, will be described with reference to FIG.4. In addition, since the shape of the battery contact member 10, whichis provided in the battery compartment 1 and comes into contact with apositive electrode of the battery 2 b, is the same as that of thebattery contact member 9, a description thereof will be omitted.

The battery contact member 9 includes two first arm portions 9 a thatextend substantially in the y direction and are arranged alongside inthe x direction and a second arm portion 9 c extending substantially inthe y direction. Those arm portions 9 a and 9 c are formed in a bentshape as shown in FIG. 4.

Contact portions 9 b which come into contact with an electrode portionof the battery 2 a are formed at the tips of the first arm portions 9 a,respectively. And two contact portions 9 d which come into contact withthe electrode portion of the battery 2 a are formed at the tip of thesecond arm portion 9 c. Each of those contact portions 9 b and 9 d has atapered shape in which the width narrows toward the tip side.

Further, the battery contact member 9 has a protruding portion 9 e whichprotrudes in the negative z direction, and the protruding portion 9 e isinserted into a hole portion (not shown) provided in the batterycompartment 1. In this way, it is possible to mount the battery contactmember 9 in the battery compartment 1 without backlash.

In the structure of the battery compartment 1 according to Embodiment 2,when the battery 2 a is loaded into the battery compartment 1, theelectrode portion of the battery 2 a comes into contact with the contactportions 9 b and 9 d respectively protruding from the arm portions 9 aand 9 c. At this time, the electrode portion of the battery 2 a comesinto contact with the tips (the edges) of the contact portions 9 b and 9d.

Then, when closing the battery cover 6, the battery cover 6 presses thebattery 2 a to move to the negative z direction. At this time, thebattery 2 a presses the arm portions 9 a and 9 c of the battery contactmember 9, so that the arm portions 9 a and 9 c are elastically deformed.That is, the first arm portions 9 a rotate in one direction (clockwisedirection) around the x-axis with their bent portions as the centers,and the second arm portion 9 c rotates in the opposite direction(counterclockwise direction) around the x-axis with its bent portion asthe center.

Accordingly, the contact portions 9 b slide to the positive y directionwith respect to the electrode portion of the battery 2 a, and thecontact portions 9 d slide to the negative y direction with respect tothe electrode portion of the battery 2 a. In this case, since the armportions 9 a and 9 c are elastically deformed, the tips of the contactportions 9 b and 9 d slide with a certain degree of biasing force withrespect to the electrode portion of the battery 2 a. Thus, when an oxidecoating, stain, etc. is formed on the electrode portion of the battery 2a, it is possible to scrape off the oxide coating, stain, etc. with thecontact portions 9 b and 9 d, and thus to repress the poor conductionbetween the battery contact member 9 (the contact portions 9 b and 9 d)and the electrode portion of the battery 2 a due to the above stain etc.

Furthermore, the arm portions 9 a and 9 c are formed so as to have thesame length and thickness, and the summed width of the two first armportions 9 a is substantially equal to the width of the second armportion 9 c. Therefore, the frictional force of the contact portions 9 bagainst the electrode portion of the battery 2 a in the positive ydirection is substantially equal to the frictional force of the contactportion 9 d against the electrode portion in the negative y direction.As a result, it is possible to repress the battery 2 a from leaning toone side (the positive y direction or the negative y direction), and toreliably scrape the above stain formed the electrode portion of thebattery 2 a.

In this way, it is possible to repress the battery 2 a from leaning toone side in the battery compartment 1 and thus from coming into contactwith an inner wall of the battery compartment 1. As a result, it ispossible to repress an increase in the contact resistance between thebattery contact member 9 and the battery 2 a due to the reduction incontact pressure therebetween.

Further, according to Embodiment 2, the battery contact member 9 comesinto contact with the electrode portion of the battery 2 a at fourpoints. However, the number of arm portions (contact portions) of thebattery contact member may be increased in order to increase the numberof contact points with the electrode portion of the battery. Inaddition, according to Embodiment 2, as shown in FIG. 4, the armportions extend substantially in the y direction. However, the armportions may extend substantially in the y direction and substantiallyin the x direction.

In the above-mentioned structure, it is possible to reduce the contactresistance between a battery contact member and an electrode portion ofa battery.

A digital camera is exemplified in the above-mentioned embodiments, butthe present invention can be applied to electronic equipment capable ofstoring batteries, such as a portable game machine and a remotecontroller.

Furthermore, according to the above-mentioned embodiments, the armportions of the battery contact members are formed in a bent shape, andthe arm portions rotate as a battery is loaded into the batterycompartment. However, a structure may be used in which a battery contactmember corresponding to the arm portion according to each embodiment isprovided and the arm portion is arranged to rotate while applyingbiasing force toward the battery. That is, this structure enables theremoval of an oxide coating, oil stain, etc. formed on the electrodesurface of the battery.

According to the above-mentioned embodiments, when a battery is storedin a battery compartment, at least a portion of a battery contact memberrotates while being elastically deformed in the plane including thedirection in which the battery is inserted, so that contact portion canbe slide with respect to the battery (an electrode portion). Thus, it ispossible to much effectively remove an oxide coating, stain, etc. formedon the electrode surface of the battery.

Further, since the tip of a contact portion is formed in a shape havingcurvature, it is possible to much effectively remove a stain etc. formedon the electrode surface of the battery. In addition, by reducing thecontact area between contact portion and the battery, it is possible torepress the battery from leaning to one side in the battery compartment.

Furthermore, by providing a plurality of contact portions in a batterycontact member, it is possible to effectively remove more stain etc.formed on an electrode surface of a battery, and also by increasing thenumber of contact points with the battery, it is possible to improve theconductivity between the battery contact member and the battery.

Moreover, since the plurality of contact portions are arranged to comeinto contact with the battery with the same reaction force, it ispossible to repress the battery from leaning to one side in the batterycompartment, and also to repress reduction in the contact pressurebetween the battery contact member and the battery.

More specifically, the battery contact member is provided with aplurality of arm portions each extending in a certain direction andhaving a contact portion. In addition, the thicknesses of the pluralityof arm portions are substantially equal to each other, and the summedwidth of the arm portions extending in the same direction issubstantially the same. In this way, the reaction forces act on thebattery in a plurality of directions can be substantially equal to eachother. In such a case, it is possible to manufacture a battery contactmember having a plurality of arm portions using a single plate-shapedmember, thereby decreasing the number of component members.

While preferred embodiments have been described, it is to be understoodthat modification and variation of the present invention may be madewithout departing from the scope of the following claims.

This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No.2003-341283 filed on Sep. 30, 2003, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein.

1. Electronic equipment comprising: a battery chamber which houses abattery; and a battery contact member which is provided in the batterychamber and includes a contact portion contacting the battery housed inthe battery chamber; wherein the contact portion is formed by bending apart of the battery contact member so as to protrude from the batterycontact member and to have curvature, and in a case where the battery ishoused in the battery chamber, the contact portion moves whilecontacting the battery depending on movement of the battery in adirection in which the battery is housed.
 2. Electronic equipmentcomprising: a battery chamber which houses a battery; and a batterycontact member which is provided in the battery chamber and includes atleast a first and a second contact portions contacting the batteryhoused in the battery chamber; wherein in a case where the battery ishoused in the battery chamber, depending on movement of the battery in adirection in which the battery is housed, the first contact portionmoves along a circumference of a circle whose center is a first point inthe clockwise direction while contacting the battery, and the secondcontact portion moves along a circumference of a circle whose center isa second point in the counterclockwise direction while contacting thebattery.
 3. The electronic equipment according to claim 2, wherein thereaction forces of the first and the second contact portions on thebattery are equal to each other.
 4. The electronic equipment accordingto claim 3, wherein the battery contact member includes a plurality ofarm portions, each having the contact portions, extending in a pluralityof directions, and thicknesses of the arm portions are substantiallyequal to each other, and the summed width of the arm portions extendingin the same direction is substantially the same in the respectivedirections.